Message services is the term used to collectively identify the various office automation systems associated with a telephone switching system. These systems are used to improve the productivity of the white collar worker in an office environment by providing improved voice and text message communications.
The Voice Mail Service (VMS) is one example of these message services. The voice messaging system offers two distinct communication features: Voice Mailbox (VM) and Call answering (CA). The voice mailbox feature involves a telephone user calling the voice messaging system by dialing an access code using the touch-tone pad on the station set, identifying one or more message recipients who are also connected to the PBX by dialing their station numbers using the touchtone pad, and leaving a voice message for later delivery by the voice messaging system to the designated recipients. The delivery of the voice message may be immediate or at a scheduled time specified by the message originator. The delivery is passive in that the voice mail service system places the message in a mailbox assigned to each identified recipient and activates the recipient's message waiting indicator on his/her telephone set instead of actively calling the recipient to playback the message.
The call answering feature of voice messaging is geared to the convenience of the message recipient, unlike the voice mailbox feature which is geared towards aiding the message originator. The nonavailability of an individual to answer a telephone call results in that call being redirected to the voice messaging system call answering feature. The user receives a prerecorded message from the absent individual and can then leave a voice message in the absent individual's voice mailbox.
While present voice messaging systems permit the manipulation of voice and text messages among the users, these systems have yet to be applied to other forms of communication mediums (e.g., fax, image and video transmission).